Texas set to execute man in disputed shaken baby case
A Texas inmate faces execution tomorrow for a 2002 conviction‚ despite questions about shaken baby syndrome evidence. Lawmakers and the lead detective now doubt his guilt‚ but clemency was denied
In Texas a 56-year-old man Robert Roberson is set to be executed tomorrow for a murder linked to shaken baby syndrome. This will be the first such execution in the US despite many people saying the proof used to find him guilty wasnt good.
Roberson was found guilty of killing his 2-year-old daughter‚ Nikki about 22 years ago. The people who wanted him punished said he took her to the hospital where they found brain damage inside her head. Back then‚ people thought this meant someone had shaken the baby hard.
A few days before she died a doctor said Nikki had a virus and a fever. Roberson has always said that on the morning she died‚ he found she had fallen out of bed.
Many people who make laws in Texas (where most are Republicans) think Roberson might not be guilty. A group of them even tried to stop the execution by asking Roberson to talk to them next week.
The main detective who helped put Roberson in jail now thinks Roberson didnt do it. But yesterday‚ the group that could have saved Roberson said no. Now‚ Roberson has asked the biggest court in the country to stop the execution.
The Texas lawyerʼs office said Roberson didnt prove he was really innocent. They also said another court decided Nikkis injuries werent from falling out of bed or from being sick.
Robersonʼs lawyers told the big court that the medical idea used to say he was guilty in 2003 is now known to be wrong. They also said that because Roberson has autism‚ people thought he didnt care when he really just acts different from other people
Not only was abuse presumed in 2003 but Robersons blunted affect and aloof mannerisms manifestations of his Autism Spectrum Disorder mistaken for a lack of care‚ led medical staff and law enforcement alike to presume culpability
